Ricci curvature for metric-measure spaces via optimal transport

Abstract

We define a notion of a measured length space X having nonnegative N-Ricci curvature, for N ∈ [1, ∞), or having ∞-Ricci curvature bounded below by K, for K ∈ R{double-struck}. The definitions are in terms of the displacement convexity of certain functions on the associated Wasserstein metric space P2(X) of probability measures. We show that these properties are preserved under measured Gromov-Hausdorff limits. We give geometric and analytic consequences.